NIOSH eNews FLASH

PLEASE JOIN US IN SUPPORTING NSC’s JOURNEY TO SAFETY EXCELLENCE

For many years, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the National Safety Council (NSC) have partnered in different initiatives to improve safety in the nation’s workplaces and reduce occupational injuries, illnesses, and death.

The 2014 National Safety Council Congress and Expo, one of the largest safety and health events in the world, opens this Saturday, September 13, in San Diego, Calif. Several sessions will highlight a new National Safety Council campaign, the Journey to Safety Excellence, which the Council terms the largest effort of its kind advocating workplace safety in companies of all sizes. The Journey was developed to provide a roadmap for workplaces to keep employees safe and healthy. It offers safety measurement tools such as the NSC Safety System Assessment, NSC Employee Safety Perception Survey, and the NSC Incident Rate Calculator. There are over 600 resources covering more than 100 safety topics, including Safety Talk—a robust online safety community where you can ask questions, share ideas, and network with others in your industry. For free access to these valuable tools and resources, go to nsc.org/journey. I encourage all in the occupational health community to become familiar with the campaign and provide feedback to the NSC.

In addition, I am pleased to be invited to participate in the Occupational Keynote of the Congress and Expo on September 16 on the important topic of reducing occupational safety and health risks for temporary and contract workers. Dr. David Michaels and I will highlight the newly released document that outlines best practices for temporary workers, jointly published by NIOSH and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2014-139). Other NIOSH researchers will also be participating in sessions at the Congress and Expo. The preliminary program can be found at http://www.congress.nsc.org/nsc2014/public/enter.aspx.

I hope you can join the NSC, NIOSH, and all Campaign partners in our renewed efforts towards safety and health excellence.

John Howard, M.D.
Director, NIOSH